When English Is Not Their First Language
When Jin Hoe Ng decided to leave Malaysia more than two years ago to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his knowledge of the state and campus was limited.
He knew Wisconsin was “an agriculture state famous for cheese and dairy products,” that the university’s student population “lacks racial diversity” and that UW-Madison “is a party school.” Similarly, India’s Hardik Modi knew UW-Madison’s industrial engineering program was “highly ranked,” that Madison is a “great university town” and that it “gets really cold here.”
Unlike students applying from within the U.S., those from overseas must prove — due to U.S. law — an ability to pay all tuition and living expenses and must also obtain the proper visas to live and study in this country. Additionally, those for whom English is not their first language must take a test to prove a level of proficiency in English.
“We do have a minimum score for English proficiency,” says Dickson. “That’s the one place we kind of draw the line in the sand. We have a very good English as a second language program on campus, but they really begin teaching at a certain level. We don’t have the resources to help everyone.”
